The silver-crowned middle-aged man was Wu Wei, the patriarch of the Wu family in Feiyun City, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The family member in charge of guarding the soul lamp just reported to him that the soul lamp of his sixth son, Wu Tianyi, had suddenly gone out.
The Soul Lamp is a special magical artifact that can be used to determine whether a cultivator is alive or dead.
In the Wu family, only core members have the opportunity to ignite the soul lamp, since the soul lamp artifact is not cheap.
The extinguishing of the soul lamp signifies death.
Wu Tianyi is his youngest son, and he is quite talented, possessing a fifth-grade fire spirit root.
With diligent practice, one has every chance to successfully establish a foundation.
Wu Wei dotes on his youngest son and is grooming him to be the successor of the Wu family.
Upon hearing that his son was dead, Wu Wei was completely unable to accept this sudden blow.
With a gloomy face, he asked an old man next to him.
"Second Uncle, do you know who Sixth Brother went out with today?"
The old man's name was Wu Qian. He was of a higher generation than Wu Wei in the Wu family. However, due to his poor aptitude, he was nearly seventy years old and only had a cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining.
He had long since given up cultivation and was now focused on managing clan affairs. Clan members would usually inform him before going out.
Upon hearing the patriarch's question, Wu Qian quickly replied.
"In the morning, the young master took Guard Jia out, saying that he was going to Yunmang Mountain for training."
"Yunmang Mountain..."
Upon hearing this, Wu Wei remained silent.
Yunmang Mountain is more than 2,000 miles away from Feiyun City. The environment there is complex and monsters are everywhere.
Although most of them were first-tier demonic beasts, Wu Tianyi was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, while Guard Jia was stronger, but only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.
If you encounter a powerful monster, there is indeed a possibility of something unexpected happening.
In addition, cultivators from nearby cities often go to Yunmang Mountain to hunt demonic beasts.
Therefore, it's hard to say exactly how Wu Tianyi died.
"Second Uncle, do you think they encountered a monster, or were they killed by someone?"
"It's hard to say."
Wu Qian dared not draw any conclusions easily.
To be honest, all sorts of unexpected things can happen in the cultivation world, and no one can guarantee anything.
Wu Wei nodded. He knew that Wu Qian couldn't give him any answers to this kind of question; he was just asking casually.
Wu Wei's face was gloomy as he lightly tapped his fingers on the table.
After a short while, Wu Wei spoke up.
"Go and invite Master Liu over."
"yes."
Wu Qian quickly responded and then walked outside.
A short while later, Wu Qian led an elderly man in a blue robe with white hair into the hall.
The old man's name was Liu Yihe, and he was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was a retainer recruited by the Wu family and had served the Wu family for many years, making considerable contributions.
Upon seeing the old man arrive, Wu Wei quickly stood up and asked him.
"Master Liu, Tianyi is dead. Can you help me calculate and see if we can find the murderer?"
"Okay, I'll give it a try."
Liu Yihe has practiced Taoism for many years and possesses a special ability: through certain mediums, he can predict a person's whereabouts.
This method is highly sought after in the cultivation world, and Liu Yihe would not use it lightly.
If Wu Tianyi hadn't died this time, and if Wu Wei hadn't personally spoken up, he definitely wouldn't have agreed so readily.
Of course, he couldn't just deduce a person's whereabouts out of thin air; he needed a suitable medium.
Liu Yihe said to the person next to him.
"Go find one of Sixth Young Master's personal belongings."
Soon, a servant came over with a piece of clothing that Wu Tianyi had worn.
Liu Yihe took the clothes and then took out a mirror-shaped magical artifact.
He muttered incantations and then spat out a mouthful of blood in front of the mirror.
A fragmented image slowly appeared on the mirror.
In the scene, Zhang Yuhe, wielding a long sword, leaps up and cleaves Wu Tianyi in two.
"How dare you!"
Upon seeing the image in the mirror, Wu Wei was enraged.
He originally thought that Wu Tianyi might have been killed by a demon beast, after all, within this radius of thousands of miles, who didn't know about the Wu family of Feiyun City?
Unless they are desperate criminals, who would dare to lay a hand on the Wu family?
However, with the images before him, he had no choice but to believe it.
Wu Wei suppressed his anger and asked Liu Yihe in a deep voice.
"Master Liu, can you track down the killer's whereabouts?"
After thinking for a while, Liu Yihe slowly said.
"It's not certain yet. If the killer left any traces at the scene, it should be possible,"
"Hmph, let's chase after them. I won't be satisfied until I've extracted the murderer's soul and refined his spirit."
With a flick of his sleeve, Wu Wei rode his flying sword out of the main hall and swiftly flew towards the place where Wu Tianyi had died.
Liu Yihe also took out his flying sword and followed closely behind.
...
At this moment, Zhang Yuhe was flying rapidly with a smile on his face.
"I never expected to get it so easily."
While flying on his sword, he didn't stay idle; instead, he searched through Jia's storage bag as he flew.
He found several jade slips in Jia Huwei's storage bag.
Although there were no cultivation techniques or magical abilities, the jade slip contained a lot of basic knowledge about cultivating immortality.
One of the jade slips contained a map of the surrounding area, which detailed the distribution of the surrounding cities and provided corresponding explanations.
According to the description on the jade slip, this area was under the jurisdiction of Yunzhong Prefecture.
Yunzhong Prefecture covers a vast area, spanning tens of thousands of miles, and contains at least several hundred small cities like Feiyun City.
Most importantly, Yunzhongfu City has a teleportation array, which can be used to teleport to Hezhou City.
Then, teleport from Hezhou City to Zhongzhou City, and you can reach the mountain gate of Daosheng Sect.
Because the Dao Sheng Sect is located 60,000 li south of Zhongzhou City.
The vastness of Yu Fantian is boundless. If he were to rely on his own sword to fly, he would probably fly until he died and still not reach the Dao Sheng Sect.
However, with a teleportation array, things are different. Once you reach Zhongzhou City, the remaining 60,000 li distance is no problem at all; you can get there in a few days.
Zhang Yuhe quickly changed direction and flew towards Yunzhongfu City.
By comparing the map on the jade slip, Cloud City was only about five thousand miles away from his current location.
It's not too far.
If we fly at full speed, we should be able to get there in less than half a day.
Being able to fly means being fast.
As Zhang Yuhe was flying rapidly towards Cloud City, Wu Wei and Liu Yihe had already arrived at the location of Wu Tianyi's death.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator's flight speed is much faster than Zhang Yuhe's; the distance of more than two thousand miles can be covered in half an hour.
Upon seeing his son's body, which had been cleaved in two, Wu Wei slowly squatted down, his eyes bloodshot and terrifying.
He asked Liu Yihe through gritted teeth.
"Can we find the killer?"
Liu Yihe did not answer immediately; he understood Wu Wei's feelings at that moment.
However, Zhang Yuhe's actions were swift and decisive, leaving no trace at the scene.
Finding the murderer in this desolate wilderness is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Even if he knew some tricks of deduction, without the corresponding medium, and the murderer left no trace.
Finding the person is difficult.
Liu Yihe leaped into the air and quickly surveyed his surroundings. After a long while, he returned to his original spot and shook his head at Wu Wei.
“Master, the murderer left no trace, and I am powerless to help.”
Upon hearing this, Wu Wei remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.
Liu Yihe stood quietly to the side, without making a sound to disturb him.
The scene fell into a deathly silence.
Suddenly, Wu Wei spoke in a deep voice.
"Fellow Daoist Liu, I know you still have methods. If you help me find the murderer, I will reward you handsomely."
Now it was Liu Yihe's turn to remain silent.
He had cultivated Taoism for nearly two hundred years, and as the saying goes, "old people become wise," so naturally he still had some tricks up his sleeve.
After all, if the murderer killed someone here, it's impossible that they really left no clues at all.
Most importantly, the murderer killed Wu Tianyi, so there must be some connection between the two.
It is entirely possible to deduce the murderer's whereabouts by examining Wu Tianyi's clothing.
However, doing so would come at a great cost.
Liu Yihe was unwilling.
He was merely a retainer of the Wu family, essentially a wage earner, and naturally wouldn't risk his life for them.
He usually helps the Wu family and solves some minor problems.
However, getting him to use his trump card is naturally not so easy.
After a long silence, Liu Yihe spoke.
"The murderer has been on the run for some time, so it won't be easy to find him, and he might even change direction."
Liu Yihe did not refuse outright; frankly, he wanted to bargain.
Empty words are useless; a simple thank you isn't enough to get rid of him. He needs to see real benefits.
Moreover, Liu Yihe specifically pointed out that the murderer had been on the run for quite some time, so they should hurry up and make an offer.
Otherwise, we might really not be able to catch up.
As for whether this would offend Wu Wei, Liu Yihe didn't care at all.
His relationship with the Wu family is at most a cooperative one; he doesn't need to be subservient to Wu Wei.
With his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could go anywhere in the world; he didn't necessarily have to stay in the Wu family.
...
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